The properties of synthetic and biological nanoscopic particles suspended in solvents differ significantly in the immediate vicinity of an interface from their behaviour in the bulk. These changes are caused by static and hydrodynamic interactions between the particles and the interface and ultimately lead to interface-induced changes in macroscopic material properties such as rheology or phase behaviour. We investigate the underlying mechanisms on the nanometre scale of biological, or biologically inspired and synthetically tailored model systems using computer simulations and interface-sensitive scattering techniques.

These effects are not only of scientific interest, but also play a role in many technological, biological and biomedical processes, from membrane filtration to the approach of a virus or drug carrier to a cell wall to the movement of proteins in membranes.

With our work, we want to contribute to a fundamental microscopic understanding of the physical mechanisms underlying such processes.